A Thousand Years
by huntinglily
Summary: The end of the world is finally here, and in the midst of terror and panic, a secret is revealed that changes the lasting minutes of two lives forever. Faberry one-shot. Rated T for language.


**Thursday December 20, 2012**

"What's up with people making apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow?"

"Seriously, December 21st must have been the day the Mayans got lazy and ran out of rock to write on."

Everyone groaned as Puck and Finn cracked yet another two end-of-the-world jokes. I locked eyes with Santana, and bit back a laugh as she muttered, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

The two of them had been joking about the supposed "zombie apocalypse" for the entire time we'd been sitting in Glee. Their first couple of puns had gotten laughs, but half an hour and they were still making them? Personally, I'd had enough.

"Hey, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dipshit, would you quit it already? At this point, I'll make sue both of your lives are over, whether the world ends tomorrow or not."

Everyone oooh-ed as Puck laughed the insult off, while Finn got indignant and flustered.

"Who are you calling Dipshit?" he demanded, trying to sound all macho and pissed, "Just shut up. Everyone likes our jokes and we're being funny; clearly you're just too stuck up to appreciate them. Or maybe you're just too wrapped up in yourself to even understand them."

"Don't talk to her like that, Finnocence!" spat Santana, coming to my defense. I rolled my eyes as the two of them argued, not bothered at all by Finn's petty attempts to insult me.

"That wasn't very nice, Quinn," a quiet voice said from behind me. I turned in my chair to see Rachel, who nodded towards Finn, who was still going back and forth with Santana. "You shouldn't call him names."

"Oh, come on," I chuckled, "even you can't deny that Tweedle Dipshit was witty."

"Still, it's not a very nice thing to do. Especially if the world really is ending tomorrow. You wouldn't Finn to die feeling worthless because you called him names, and you wouldn't want yourself to die feeling like a terrible person because you—"

I sighed, cutting her off. I so didn't have the energy to deal with a Rachel Berry guilt trip. "Look Rachel, I'm sorry you're upset that I was mean to your boyfriend. Won't happen again, okay?"

Rachel's eyes grew wide with surprise at my words. "Didn't you hear?" she asked, "I broke up with Finn a couple days ago." She dropped her voice to a whisper, "That's why he's being so loud and obnoxious, cracking jokes and whatnot. He was really shocked and hurt and mad when I ended it."

I felt my own eyes widen with surprise at her revelation; this was news to me. "Wow, um, I'm sorry about that…although it doesn't sound like you're very upset." I smacked myself internally for sounding insensitive, but my curiosity got the best of me as I asked my next question, "If you don't mind me asking, how come you ended things? No offense, but you were, like, madly in love with him for so long, I'm kind of surprised you're the one who broke things off."

_Wow, Fabray, you sound like such a bitch, you're really not gonna get answers now_, I thought to myself. But Rachel surprised yet again when she laughed.

"No that's okay, I agree. It would seem that I really did like him, for a very long time. But recently, I've realized that I was just using him, because truthfully, I have feelings for someone else, and—" Realizing what she had jut admitted, Rachel's eyes grew wide in panic as she snapped her mouth shut.

A new wave of curiosity blew through me. Rachel was crushing on someone that wasn't Finn?

"Who is it, Rachel?" I asked, already knowing it would take more than just asking to get her to tell me. After all, it was no secret that we weren't the best of friends. True, things had gotten smoother between us in recent months, and I considered her a good friend now. But it takes a little more than a few months to buddy up with the person who tormented you for half your high school career, and honestly, I couldn't blame her for keeping her guard up.

Her eyes met mine, then quickly averted to the ground. "It's no one, forget I said it," she mumbled.

"Tell me, Rachel, come on." I tried again. "Is it someone in Glee?"

"Stop," she mumbled again. "You wouldn't understand anyways, it's not important."

Growing frustrated, I tried to coax it out of her. "Sam? Puck? God Rachel, is it Artie? Please say no on that last one, that's desperate, even for you."

"I said forget it, Quinn," she snapped at me, as I drew back in surprise.

Rachel's eyes met mine, and in them, I saw an emotion I couldn't quite read. I stared back at her, searching the depths of her eyes for an answer, not realizing I was getting lost in their deep brown depths. For several long seconds, the sounds of our friends laughing, and Mr. Schue scolding them for use of bad language were lost to me as we gazed at each other. I watched her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath.

"Quinn, I—"

She jumped as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Our trance-like moment interrupted, she bolted out of her chair, and went back to refusing to look at me. "Sorry for snapping. I'll see you tomorrow," she muttered, as she grabbed her stuff and shot out of the room.

I sat back in my chair, trying to process what had just happened. I must've looked off, staring into space and thinking, because Santana came over and nudged me gently.

"Earth to Blondie, you okay?" she asked.

I shook my head, clearing my mind from my encounter with Rachel. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Santana laughed as she picked up her bag. "Good, you better be fine, because you're driving us home, remember? Ay, Brit," she called, signaling Brittany over, "Q's ready to go."

Brittany skipped over to us and linked pinkies with Santana. "Do you guys really think the world is gonna end tomorrow?" she asked us as we walked out of the building and towards the parking lot.

"Of course it's not, Brit, that's a load of bullshit. And besides," Santana said, a wicked grin spreading across her face, "even if it does, we can fit in a quick make-out before it happens."

They both turned to me, waiting for my input on the issue. "What do you think, Q?" Brittany asked as we got into the car and I pulled out of the lot. I could see Santana in the rearview mirror, snaking her hand up Brittany's shirt and watched Brittany squirm happily under her touch.

"I think," I said, "that you two need to get a room. Or even better, your own cars."

* * *

**Tuesday December 21, 2012**

"Well, we made it to Glee club, and the world's still spinning." Puck announced as we walked into the choir room the next day.

"Alright Puck, give it a rest." Mr. Schue said, "The world's not over yet, and we've got work to do." He went on to explain how the next few weeks would work, in preparation for Sectionals, and I zoned out, my eyes settling on the back of Rachel's head from where I was seated behind her.

Our conversation had been the only thing I could think about since it happened the day before. What had she been about to tell me, before the bell rang? And why had she gotten so weird about it afterwards, refusing to look and me and running out of the room? I had thought about it after dropping Brittany and Santana off at their houses, and even when I got distracted with other things, my mind would always find its way back to the strange encounter.

"Mr. Schue, I'd like to sing a song, if that's alright with you."

I snapped to attention at the sound of Rachel's voice, asking to sing. Mr. Schue nodded his approval and took a seat as Rachel stood up and handed Brad a sheet of piano music.

The slow notes started playing, and the room fell quiet as the soft sound of the piano captured everyone's attention. Rachel looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath before beginning to sing.

_Heart beats fast  
Colors and promises  
How to be brave?  
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall  
But watching you stand alone?  
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer_

Rachel's voice rang out soft, but clear. It was obvious there was some sort of hidden message behind this song, for all the emotion she was putting into the lyrics as she sang.

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

So, I had been right – she was definitely singing this to someone in the room. Realization sunk in as I hit myself inwardly for not figuring it out sooner. She was singing to whoever it was that had her so head-over-heels that she had broken up with Finn because of it.

_Time stands still  
Beauty in all she is  
I will be brave  
I will not let anything take away  
What's standing in front of me  
Every breath  
Every hour has come to this_

One step closer

My eyes followed her, waiting for her gaze to land on someone, to give me a hint as to who the song was for. However, her eyes trailed from person to person, never staying in the same spot for very long.

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

I continued to watch her closely as she sang on, but found myself getting lost in the sound of her voice. The notes came out flawlessly, and the words sounded haunting in the silent room. Her dark brown hair fell around her face in loose waves, and her tan skin glowed – she looked beautiful.

_One step closer_

She tilted her head back, and I watched her swallow hard before singing the next verse.

_One step closer _

As her voice hit the high note, she lowered her gaze until her eyes met mine, and locked with them. All at once, I was hit with a wave of realization. Rachel was singing to me.

_I have died everyday waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more _

After that, she never took her eyes away from me. Her gaze remained locked with mine as she sang, never breaking eye contact. A million thoughts were rushing through my head; realizations flowed through, and suddenly so many things made sense to me. Why she had forgiven me, even after everything I had done to her. Why she had ended things with Finn. Why she had gotten so upset when I started to question her about it. And why she had stopped herself from revealing all of this to me yesterday.

_And all along I believed I would find you  
Time has brought your heart to me  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more_

As the song came to an end and her final note died out, she closed her eyes and I watched as attempted to hold back her tears. Thankfully, the round of applause that everyone broke into provided a chance to quickly regain control of her emotions before she smiled.

"I'd like to thank you all for listening to that, and I—"

She was interrupted mid-sentence by a rumbling noise. For several painful seconds, no one moved as we listened to the sound grow louder. It stopped momentarily, and still everyone sat still, waiting. Everything was absolutely silent.

And then the shaking happened.

This was no ordinary, typical earthquake shaking. The ground rumbled, and shook with a greater force than I had ever felt. Screams began sounding throughout the school, and a rush of panic blew through the room. Desks, cabinets, shelves all began to crash to the ground as the shaking only got worse.

"Everyone, stay calm and move out!" Mr. Schue yelled above the noise, though even his voice was shaking with fear. We ran out of the room, only to be met with massive amounts of students and teachers, all trying to make their way out of the crumbling building.

"Mount St. Helens has erupted!"

"Japan is up in flames!"

"Disasters are happening all over the world!"

"The apocalypse is here!"

All these shouts and more could be heard over the hundreds of people milling through the halls. Someone was live-streaming the news from their phone, and screaming updates whenever they came in. From what I could tell, it sounded as if the entire planet was being hit with disaster. I heard one boy yell that Australia was completely underwater, drowned in a massive tsunami, and it was then that it hit me that the apocalypse really what happening. After all the predictions, and all the jokes, the end of the world really was here.

A blood-curdling scream stopped my thoughts, and I froze as I saw part of the ceiling give way and collapse on top of a group of people about 20 feet ahead of us. Suddenly, pieces of plaster and concrete began to break off the ceiling and walls and crush students beneath. The shaking was growing stronger by the second, and I could barely stay on my feet.

All around me, I saw people begin to turn to their friends and tell them they loved them. I watched Santana wipe tears from Brittany's face, and pull her into a passionate embrace. Finn and Puck performed their old handshake before hugging tightly. Mr. Schue pulled Ms. Pillsbury into his arms, and Sam did the same to Mercedes. Suddenly, all I could hear was tearful goodbyes, I love you's, and following screams as the building continued to collapse. Realizing that this was my only chance, I grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her to my side.

"Rachel, what were you going to say to me yesterday, before you ran off?" I asked, above the screams and shouts of terror. The ground shook violently beneath our feet, and I took hold of both Rachel's hands, steadying us.

Her huge brown eyes were pouring tears as she looked up at me. "I can't Quinn, I can't, I can't, I don't know what to say, or what to do, I can't do this," she sobbed, her voice breaking.

"Tell me, Rachel," I yelled, raising my voice, making sure she could hear me. A few river of tears flowed out from her eyes, and an emotion deeper than I had ever seen entered them.

"I love you, Quinn, is that what you want to hear?" she shouted, her voice raw with emotion. "I've loved you since the day we met. I loved you through every insult you said, every slushie you threw. I loved you even more when you apologized for everything. I love you, and I don't know how not to. I just—"

I cut her off as I brought my lips to hers in deep, tear-filled kiss. I kissed her with passion, and felt her wet face against mine. Our arms clutched at one another as we stood there together in the midst of terror. I felt like I was on fire, my face was burning, I couldn't think or breathe, and none of it mattered. All the mattered was that I was holding Rachel Berry in my arms, our lips locked in a feverish embrace. We stood like that until the building completely gave way. The last thing I saw and felt before the world went black was Rachel, and our brief, but very real love.


End file.
